Tread-surface.



P. R. PHILLIPS.

- TB'EAD SURFACE APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 26,1906..

Patented Apr. 6, 1909.

AT TRNEY WIM/8868 entorno ienrngnr onere FREDERICK R. PHILLPS, O

F PLAINFELD, NEW JERSEY.

TBEAD-SU'RFCE.

or met, find more pnrtieulnrly to tlmt kind or style thereof comprising n. nuniher ol' strips ot metal placed edgewise to the snrhice, and bent or crimped into Zigi/nr; forni, whereby to forni n mesh throughl which dirt, snow or lereign nizitter may poss, the object of the seine heingto provide :i device ol this liindfwhich shrill he strong :rnd rigid, and wherein the .several crimped strips will he locked against vortienl inoven'ient with relntion to enr-lr other. and :it the sinne time allowed :i slight longitudiinrl movement, in order to permit of the met or step heine' termed with :t rounded or curved outline, or nn outiine other thon straight, ne for instruire, en? steps luiving rounded or curved iront edges.

A further olijeetfof my invention' 'is to so forni or slnipe the strips 'that they may he easily and rendiiy :isscmhled :ind so locked :is to prevent any disengngement and constq nent ongoing thereof, und which nl, the somo time will he inexpensive, 'to nninul'neture.

Vitli these oud other ends in View, the iin reution consists in eerlnin. novel tentures ot' construction und. eon'ihinntions olE ports, :is will he hereinit'fter hilly described :ind pointed out in the eloiins.

ln the oocoinpmiying drawings, Figure 4i is :t View in perspective olE n port of u. mnt or lzrtforin ('orstruetod in necordenee with my invention. liif. l is n. sectional rien' thereof token on the line 1?-2 oi Fig. l. Fig. 3 is o. seeticnurl 'View teken on the l .ie fl-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. fl is :i perspective View ol' n portion ol' n. detnehod strip. Figi. 5 n simihrr View of n. modilied forni thereof. Fig. G is n. Seotionnl View showinfr the method of ossemhling strips constructed like those illustrated in Fig. '.1' is n` perspective viewofn inodiied l'orni ol' stri ond Fig. tl a seo tionzilviow showing tire method oinssembling the saine.

lleretol'ore in ythe l'orirmtion ol trend surl'ncos comprising crimped strips of motel set edgewise, it hns heen ntteinptcd to secure the severail strips nguinst vertical movement one with relation to the other, hy providing?r the Specification of Letters Eatent. Application filed August 26, 190B.

lfin-e. of the. :tdjzurent strip,

I Patented April 6, 1909.

Serial No. 450,405.

contacting sides or surfaces with locking means, these ineens comprising. in certain instances n spherical projection on one eurfnce to be contained n'ithin n Corresp@ 'lingly shaped indentation on the eontnei, lnco of the adjacent strip, :ind in other in stnnees, n projection formed onthe ieee oi one strip to be contained within n slot formed in the contncting foce or the adjacent strip. Objections have been urged ngninst hoth of' these forms, :rgninst the former because of the failure to positivelyY lock the strips to g .ther hy renson ol' the inclined surfaces ot the sphericnl projection ond indi-xn'mtion, and against the hitter because ol the Weakness of the projection, the Suid projection heilig formed vertical ond presentingr :i healing sur-A t'nce equal in width to the thickness of nietstl of which the strip is formed.

The ohjeot of my invention is o overcome these objections, and to provinen strip so eil'ected, :ind to provide the inn terl oeliing proj eetion inc1 ieee ol hearing surizree for the slotted. contacting whereby to seeureljT Alorli thc'sznne :nul lend sufieient strength thereto to withstand any strain which might be imposed upon it. ln carrying out these objects, .l toxin the nistt or trend surface of strips otsheet metal of proper width sind thickness, und crimped or bent into zigzag fo1m,pi'et'erebly in euch Way that the Ineslior openings 'between the strips shell he hexagonal in shape.

risillustreted in Figs. l, 2, end

the strip A are slotted, es illustrated zttE, :i

eontnot one strip with :t suil'iclently longY 4 ol." "the, drawings, the alternating contacting' hiees'ot" 'formed that n. more. secure locking or the portion of the nieto-l of the slot being` bent in,

irerdly troni the upper edge et torni. the' projections or mele meinhersjf, the intermediate .contacting feces or sides oi" the seine strip being also slotted es illustrated. et El, and n. portion ci? the metal of the. slot he ing" bent in the 'o positie direction from the loiver edge thereo forming the unile locking members e. y A

in assembling the strips, :is elenrly illus trated 'in Fig. 3, it vwill he seen that the mede members e project into the slots ,lily formed in the contacting faces or then ljtreent strip, ond that the Incio members f on the slime Strip project in the oppositedirection into the slots E of the contacting laces ol the nd jacent strip, thereojY securely lockingT the said .slot te.

.rio

bers g.

strips against vertical movement one with relation .to the other, but allowing a slight longitudinal movement. Instead, however,

permit of the requisite longitudinal movement of one stri upon the other when bending or forming t e tread surface with an edge of' having the projections or male members i or outline other than straight.

bent outwardly, as described, they may be i bent," as illustrated in Fig.- 5, that is, the projections g on the alternating faces of the strip are bent slightly outwardly from the lower edge of the slots, 'and the projections h on the intermediate faces of the strip bent in the olpposite direction from the upper edge of the s ots, these projections g, h, extending entirely across the faces, thereby providing eX- tremcly long bearing surfaces when the stris are properly assembled, as illustrated in ig. 8, the ower edges of the members h resting n on the u per edges of the memgain, as il ustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, I may form the strip with the male members i projecting from the upper edges of the slotted alternating contacting faces, and cxtendin partially across the same, and the interme iate contacting faces of the strip with the slots 7c extending entirely across the same, whereby when the parts are assembled, as illustrated in Fig. 8, the male members 'i will roject into and through the slots k, thereby ocking the strips affainst vertical movement with relation to eacii other, but at the same time allowing a slight longitudinal movement.

It will be observed in all the frregoing instances that the male members of thoejnterlocking parts are arranged horizontally, that is, the metal of the projections are bent from the lower longer edges of the slots, in contradistinction to the shorter vertical edges, thereby affording long bearing surfaces upon which the strips may slide, and overcomingl the objections urged against the former construction, wherem the projection or male member is arranged vertically and presents nothing more than its edge as a bearing survface for the attaching strip.

It will of course be understood that when the strips are formed as `illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8, the interloekin projections may be made as long as may be esired, it benecessary only to leave sufficient play thereof in the slots of the adjacent strips to In making strips as illustrated in Figs'. 5 and 6 I have extendedv the projections g and h entlrely across the contacting faces, as l have found from experiment that the long bearing surfaces afford a very effective means for preventing any vertical movement of the strips one upon the other, and at the same time permits of the extreme limit of longitudinal movement of the strips one upon the other when bending,r the mat to its proper outline.

l am aware that it is not new to form a mat or tread surface consisting of, crimped strips of metal provided on the contacting faces with male ocking members projecting into slots formed in the contacting faces of the adjacent strip, and hence l make no claim to such, but:

Having fully described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is f 1. A tread surface of the character described, consisting of a series of crimped strips, the alternating slotted contacting faces of each strip being provided with male locking members projecting from the horizontal edges of the slots in said faces, substantially as described.

2. A step or mat of the character described,-

consisting` of a series of crimped strips, the slotted alternating contacting faces of each strip being provided with locking projections extending in one direction from the u per horizontal edges of said slots and vt e slotted intermediate contacting faces being provided with projections extending in the opposite* direction from the lower horizontal edges of said slots, substantially as described. Signed at New York, borough of Manhat tan, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 15th day of August A. D. 1908.

FREDERICK Bf. PHILLIPS. Witnesses:

M. VAN Non'rwioir,

PARKER Coon. 

